Odd & Unusual M&M Flavors

I am a fan of odd and unusual flavors of M&M's, a popular candy produced by the
Mars Company. Mars was founded in Minneapolis in 1920. Their best known product is the
Snickers Bar. They developed a new process for making pellet sized candy and introduced
M&M's in 1941. It was popular with soldiers in WWII. There was just one flavor for
decades. Then peanut was introduced, and later a variety of colors, and in the 1980s,
the first holiday specific limited editions appeared. Flavors were introduced starting
in the 2000s. There is now a wide array of limited editions that are introduced for
holidays throughout the year, with some flavors being exclusive to Target or Walmart.
Here are the flavors that I have found since I became interested in M&M's in early
2012.

There are a number of different mainstream flavors of M&M's, such as peanut, dark
chocolate, mint, etc. I am not too interested in those flavors because they are widely
available. There are also a lot of variations in packaging and special colors for
holidays, plus the line of mega-sized M&M's. I am not too interested in them
because they don't taste any different. Rather, it is the limited edition flavors that
I like to track down and sample. If you find something that I don't have listed here,
please let me know.

Orange Vanilla Cream M&M's is a limited edition flavor that is available at just
one national store chain, Dollar General. I suspect that M&M Mars is trying to
encourage more stores to do limited edition flavors given that Walmart seems to have
cut back on how many flavors they are doing each year. The ploy seems to be working
for Dollar General. It is bringing new visitors into their stores and creating some
buzz in the retail world. This flavor reportedly went on sale April 30, 2018, but I
found my package at the Dollar General store on Lake Street in Minneapolis on the
morning of April 24 after being tipped off that they were available. The flavor is
excellent. Based on white chocolate, the orange cream flavor tastes just like I
remember orange soda pop tasting when I was a kid. The orange and white colors
complete the experience. These are worth seeking out though some will find it an
adventure given that not everyone is within easy driving distance of a Dollar General
store. To top it off, Dollar General is donating $1 per package to the Dollar General
Literacy Foundation to help support educational efforts in areas near Dollar General
locations. And yes, that is a Boston Marathon finisher medal in the background on the
upper right corner of the photo. I ran Boston in both 2015 and 2018.

Crunchy Raspberry M&M's is one of three limited edition contest flavors that the
public voted for in the spring of 2018. It is my favorite of the three contest flavors,
and perhaps my favorite limited edition over the past few years. I really loved Dark
Chocolate Raspberry M&M's when they were a mainstream flavor and I had feared that
they were gone for good. Crunch Raspberry M&M's is not only a worthy successor, but
it might even be better. The center is based on a modified version of Crispy M&M's
with a crisped rice infused with dark chocolate rather than milk chocolate. It is more
fun to eat and it has no flavor fatigue even after eating an entire bag. Not everyone
shares my opinion, however, since those that don't like it think it tastes like some
kind of medicine. My package was purchased at the Kwik Trip Store in Plymouth, MN, on
the evening of April 6, 2018.

Crunchy Mint M&M's is one of three limited edition contest flavors that the
public voted for in the spring of 2018. This is my least favorite of the three. While
regular Mint M&M's are pretty good, the Crunchy version is simply overpowering.
It is way too much mint in too short of time. It might be OK if you love mint, but it
was too much for me. Like Crunchy Raspberry, it is based on a modified version of
Crispy M&M's with dark chocolate in place of the milk chocolate, but in this case,
cocoa is also added. My package was purchased at the Kwik Trip Store in Plymouth, MN, on
the evening of April 6, 2018.

Crunchy Expresso M&M's is one of three limited edition contest flavors that the
public voted for in the spring of 2018. Like all coffee, mocha, and expresso flavors,
this is a can't miss item for those who like coffee. In fact, Crunchy Expresso M&M's
are one of the best coffee style M&M's flavors so far. Not only does it nail the
flavor, but it is light and smooth going down. The lightness comes from the crispy
interior of the candy (based on Crispy M&M's but with dark chocolate and cocoa
instead of milk chocolate) and the smoothness comes from not having any milk chocolate
in the product. It is everything that Coffee Nut M&M's are not. My package was
purchased at the Kwik Trip Store in Plymouth, MN, on the evening of April 6, 2018.

Neapolitan is the Easter limited edition flavor for 2018. It is modeled after
Neapolitan ice cream. In concept, this could be great with three colors and
three flavors. However, the reality doesn't meet the potential in this case.
My issue is that while they do have three different flavors, they mixed all
three together in every color. So rather than having chocolate, strawberry, and
vanilla as three different flavors, they mixed them all together to get a very
dull strawberry vanilla that hides in there with the milk chocolate.
The end product isn't bad, so my disappointment comes from thinking about
what it could have been. I purchased my example at Super Target in Apple
Valley, Minnesota, on February 19, 2018.

Triple Chocolate is the natural follow-on to the much improved Double
Chocolate flavor from late last year. However, it has roots that go back
a decade to the legendary M&M's Premiums, one flavor of which was Triple
Chocolate. The candy has a core of milk chocolate that is wrapped with a
layer of white chocolate, which is in turn wrapped with dark chocolate. The
dark chocolate gives it a strong chocolate flavor, white chocolate gives
it a sweet taste, and milk chocolate gives it smoothness. Keeping with the
Valentines Day theme, they come in two shades of red and one shade of violet.
The net result is an excellent M&M's variety. It tastes good and the
flavor never seems to get old. I purchased my example at the Target store
in Cyprus Lakes on the south side of Fort Myers on January 11, 2018. While
I haven't heard any official information as to what stores these are in,
they appear to be in all major stores except for Walmart. Walmart has their
own exclusive Valentines Day flavor, White Cheesecake (a rerun from last year).

This is the 2017 version of Double Chocolate M&M's. The previous version was kind
of awful with the milk chocolate dominating the flavor and ruining the effect. This
year, M&M Mars got it right. They based it on a white chocolate center wrapped
in dark chocolate. Those two flavors compliment each other very well resulting in a
unique sweet sour chocolate combination that really hits the spot. This flavor is
exclusive to Walmart. I purchased this package at the Walmart Supercenter in Apple Valley,
MN, on November 8, 2017.

Peanut Brrr-ittle M&M's are a rare limited edition that is based on Peanut M&M's.
They started with regular Peanut M&M's and added the butterscotch flavor from
last year's BOO-tterscotch flavor. The result really works well. The peanuts added
a bit of a salty zip to the butterscotch flavor. This flavor is exclusive to Target
stores. I purchased my sample from the Target store in Burnsville, MN, on November 7,
2017.

Glow In The Dark M&M's were a Halloween limited edition in 2017. They featured a
larger package that contained an assortment of 5 different child serving sized packets
of M&M's. I didn't quite understand the glow in the dark part. It must have been
the package that glowed because it certainly wasn't the M&M's. I also didn't really
find a glow in the dark effect from any of the packages, though I think it was the white
color on the little packages that was supposed to glow. The actual candy was regular
milk chocolate M&M's. I was underwhelmed, especially since I had to stop at a
number of different Walgreens stores before I found a package. In their defense, I
didn't hear about them until the day before Halloween, so they were likely sold out
by then and I was probably lucky to still find a package. These were purchased at the
Walgreens on Cedar Avenue and highway 42 in Apple Valley, MN, on October 31, 2017.

I love Cookies & Cream ice cream, so I was really looking forward to trying Cookies
& Scream M&M's when I first heard about them. In this case, M&M Mars hit
a home run — it really tastes just like Cookies & Cream. It required a
complex process to achieve this result. The center is white chocolate. A layer of dark
chocolate is wrapped around it, which is then covered with a speckled candy shell.
There is no milk chocolate to overpower the flavor. It is certainly one of the top 5
M&M's flavors so far. These are exclusive to Target stores. I found this example
at the Target in Burnsville, MN, on August 24, 2017.

White Chocolate was introduced as a mainstream M&M's flavor in May of 2017, though
it took a long time before I was able to find them here in the Midwest. I finally
located this single serving package at Walgreens at highway 42 and highway 11 in
Burnsville, MN, on August 22, 2017. White Chocolate has been an Easter flavor with
pastel colored shells. The mainstream version, however, has the normal M&M's
shell colors. It is slightly sweeter than its darker cousins, and that sweetness
can get old after a while. But in smaller quantities, like these single serving
packages, they are a really nice alternative to milk chocolate.

White Pumpkin Pie M&M's are the fall and Thanksgiving flavor for 2017, available
as an exclusive at Walmart stores. I purchased this example at the Walmart Supercenter
in Shakopee, MN on August 16. While most of the fall flavors have been based on milk
chocolate, giving them a flavor akin to cardboard, this variety is based on white
chocolate. That lets the flavor shine through without being drowned out by the
chocolate. In addition, white chocolate added to the sweetness, resulting in M&M's
that tasted just exactly like pumpkin pie. They really nailed it on this one.

M&M's Caramel is a long awaited new mainstream variety of M&M's that
was announced in the summer of 2016 but not available until late April of 2017,
expanding M&M's into a new category of soft and gooey. That is currently
the 4th largest segment of the candy market. Mars has high hopes to make a
big dent in that segment and has been building a lot of hype for the release.
Those who have tasted the Caramels have almost universally praised it, some
saying it was their new favorite candy of all time. I suspect that those are
the folks that like Caramel to begin with. I don't particularly like the
gooey sticky stuff, so I wasn't overly thrilled. It is good, and Mars has done
an excellent job pulling it off in true M&M form, but I personally like
flavors rather than textures. I picked up this bag of M&M's Caramel at the
HyVee store in Lakeville, MN, on the morning of April 30, 2017.

Strawberry Nut M&M's are a limited edition spring flavor that were rolled
out as part of a ‘Get Nutty’ marketing campaign. The product is
much like the nutty M&M's that were part of the contest in 2016, but
with the same strawberry flavor used in the Strawberry M&M's from
Valentine's Day in 2016. Strawberry can be a very powerful and amazingly
enjoyable flavor that makes me happy all day long, but, unfortunately, the
strawberry flavor used in M&M's is nowhere close to being that good.
It is simply too muted to have much of an impact. I still enjoyed this flavor,
but was disappointed because it could have been truly great if the flavor
had a pop to it. I found this package at a Walgreens in Burnsville, MN, on
the evening of April 5, 2017.

Vanilla Cupcake M&M's are the limited edition flavor for Easter
2017 that is exclusively available at Target stores. They are based on white
chocolate and they really do taste like cupcakes. The flavor is much like
the Birthday Cake M&M's, but using white chocolate instead of milk
chocolate. The result is very rich. The flavor really pops, and it brings
out the sweetness of the white chocolate. The outer shell is a traditional
M&M's shell, but in pastel colors. I purchased this example at the
Target store in Burnsville, MN, on February 19, 2017.

Peanut Butter M&M's are my favorite mainstream variety of M&M's. In
fact, it is my go-to food when I need to quickly refuel my energy base, such
as when running long distances on back to back days. In this case, I was
running the Ice Breaker Gold Challenge, which is a half marathon on a
Saturday followed by a full marathon the next morning. What attracted me to
this package was the bonus of 10% more M&M's for the normal price. I
purchased this example at the Walmart Super Center in Waukesha, Wisconsin,
on the evening of January 27, 2017.

White Cheesecake M&M's are the Valentine's Day limited edition flavor that
is only available at Walmart stores. I purchased this example at a Walmart
near Walt Disney World in Orlando, Florida, on January 3, 2017. The cheesecake
flavor is well in the background. I wouldn't have been able to name the flavor
without looking at the name on the package. However, the flavor was just the
perfect ingredient to make the best white chocolate candy that I have tasted
so far. The candy itself came in special colors for Valentines day of dark
pink, light pink, off-yellow, and white. Each piece was about twice the size of
normal M&M's meaning that each handful delivered twice the punch of the
more traditional smaller sized M&M's.

This is quite possibly the best M&M's ever made -- Real Coconut. This is
not like the artificial coconut flavor that was available several years ago
or the coconut-like flavor that was available in the egg sized M&M's at
Easter. This is actual real shredded coconut inside these large sized M&M
candies. The flavor is real, it is intense, and it is actually coconut. I
didn't want to stop eating them once I got started. In fact, the only thing
that slowed me down was the price, $6.99 per half pound. These are only
available from bulk dispensers at M&M's World locations. I purchased my
sample at the location on The Strip in Las Vegas on November 3, 2016.

Shimmery White Chocolate is a limited edition exclusive to Target stores
available for Christmas of 2016. These M&M's don't have any special flavor,
they are simply plain old white chocolate. What makes them special is the
candy shell, which has a glossy satin finish that shimmers and sparkles.
If you like white chocolate, you will love these M&M's because there is
nothing to get in the way of its smooth flavor. I bought this package at
Target in Chanhassen, MN, on November 14, 2016.

M&M's Double Chocolate sounded like it had so much promise, but it turned
out to be very blah. The premise is that it has both milk chocolate and dark
chocolate, so it should be the best of both worlds. However, there is so little
dark chocolate that the milk chocolate dominates the flavor. I kind of dislike
milk chocolate, so I thought it was boring, almost a chore to eat it. The
candy itself is made much like the hot chocolate flavor from last winter where
there is a core of milk chocolate surrounded by a layer of dark chocolate.
This flavor is exclusive to Walmart. I purchased this package at the Walmart
Supercenter in Shakopee, MN, on November 12, 2016.

Boo-tterscotch is a limited editor flavor for Halloween 2016. The candy is
based on white chocolate with a very distinctive butterscotch flavor. It is
smooth and tastes good, a combination that works very well. In fact, I rate
it as being absolutely awesome. This flavor is exclusive to Target. I
purchased this package at the Target in Burnsville, MN, on August 26, 2016.

This bag of Almond M&M's cost me $1,507. On the evening of July 4, 2016, I
headed over to Kraemer Nature Center (in Savage, MN) to put in a few miles on
the trails, but stopped for a snack on the way (at a Holiday Station Store). I
bit into the first Almond M&M and the crown on tooth #19 shattered (lower
left rear). Fortunately, it didn't hurt as long as I kept my heart rate down
and kept it covered with my retainer (I have Invisiline braces that I use as
retainers to keep my teeth straight). Also, fortunately, my dentist was able
to get me in right away the next morning to get it taken care of.

To be fair to the M&M's, this crown was likely already cracked. In fact,
it shed a piece a few months earlier. I had one other crown that shattered a
few years ago due to a flaw in the materials, but the dental lab covered it
under warranty. They didn't cover this one since it was already 11 years old.

S'mores is the first limited edition flavor based on Crispy M&M's since
Crispy was reintroduced in 2015. I purchased this package at Walmart in Apple
Valley, MN, on May 8, 2016. I like the Crispy M&M's without any flavor,
and I like the S'mores even better. The S'mores flavoring is very muted and
you can hardly notice it. That means that I never got tired of the flavor,
but at the same time, the flavor wasn't intense enough to really light up
my imagination. It was good enough to try again a few more times throughout
the summer.

Honey Nut M&M's are one of three peanut M&M flavors introduced in the
spring of 2016 as part of a promotion to vote for the new peanut M&M
flavor. Of they three, this was the only one that I did not dislike. That is
kind of faint praise, however. It had a slightly sweet flavor that was OK, but
I didn't see it as an improvement over the original Peanut M&M's. They
come in three colors, black, tan, and off-white, and are the same size and
composition as the original. I purchased these at CVS at Diffley and Johnny
Cake Ridge in Eagan, MN, on March 17, 2016.

Coffee Nut M&M's is another of the three peanut M&M flavors introduced
in the spring of 2016 as part of a promotion to vote for the new peanut M&M
flavor. The flavor didn't scream coffee or mocha to me, but rather, more of
a burnt flavor. It wasn't bad, but no where near as good as the recent Cafe
Mocha flavor. They came in three colors, black, brown, and white. I purchased
these at CVS at Diffley and Johnny Cake Ridge in Eagan, MN, on March 17, 2016.

Note, Coffee Nut was the winning flavor and became a mainstream M&M's
flavor later in 2016.

Chili Nut M&M's is another of the three peanut M&M flavors introduced
in the spring of 2016 as part of a promotion to vote for the new peanut M&M
flavor. This is the first M&M flavor that I absolutely hated. I didn't
just dislike or fail to enjoy them, but rather, had a hard time eating them
once I opened the package. The chili flavor just didn't agree with me, and
the hot aftertaste was not at all enjoyable. Those that enjoy hot foods might
like this flavor and the afterburn, but I did not. These M&M's come in
three festive colors, black, red, and orange. I purchased this bag at CVS at
Diffley and Johnny Cake Ridge in Eagan, MN, on March 17, 2016.

Easter Sundae M&M's are simply awesome. This is one of the best M&M
flavors since the premium quality M&M's Trios from many years ago. I am
not sure if it is yummy or yummie, but either way, these are really good.
The candy starts with a white center that has a vanilla flavor. There is a
thin layer of milk chocolate wrapped around it, then the candy coating that
has a hint of fruit flavor. The milk chocolate flavor is way in the background,
so it really adds to the experience rather than dominating the flavor.
Ice cream sundaes are not a traditional Easter food. Rather, the name is a pun,
as in Easter Sunday. That works for me! This flavor is a Walmart exclusive.
I found this package at the Walmart store in Eagan, MN, on February 21, 2016.

Peanut Butter Eggs are not new, but the individual package size Peanut Butter
Eggs are new this year. Each package has about a dozen. Eggs are larger in
size than even Peanut M&M's, and the speckles in the coating are really
cool. Not to mention that peanut butter flavor is awesome to begin with, and
the peanut butter eggs are especially delicious. I found this package at the
Walmart Supercenter in Shakopee, Minnesota, on March 7, 2016.

Mint M&M's are a mainstream flavor. I am normally not too interested in
the mainstream varieties of M&M's, but I needed a snack after a warm
humid run, and this individual sized package of Mint M&M's really hit the
spot. They come in three colors, white, light green, and dark green. I
purchased this package at the Walgreens on Cape Coral Parkway (at Coronado)
in Cape Coral, Florida, on leap day 2016 (February 29).

M&M Malt Mini Eggs are a new variety of egg style M&M's for Easter
this year. They taste just like another candy product called Malted Milk
Balls. They are pretty good as far as a malt candy goes, very similar to
Crispy M&M's, but I kind of found it to be a little bland. Not bad, but
just didn't light my M&M fire. They are smaller than the other egg
flavors, hence the name Mini, and they go down really well. I like the
smaller size and the pastel colors. They come in yellow, aqua, blue violet,
and red violet. I found this package at Walmart in Eagan, MN, on February
21, 2016.

White Strawberry Shortcake is a new flavor for Easter. I found it at Target
at Coconut Point (Estero, FL) on January 7, 2016. I really liked last year's
White Chocolate Carrot Cake, so I had high hopes for White Strawberry
Shortcake. The flavor is pretty good. Some reviewers found the strawberry flavor
to be strong, but I thought it wasn't strong enough. Another reviewer said
that it tasted a lot like Strawberry Nesquik. That probably means that they
got the flavor right. The nice part is that the white chocolate doesn't
dominate the taste, and the flavor doesn't get old. In fact, the flavor seemed
to get better as I ate my way through the entire bag. This limited edition
flavor is only available at Target.

Cherry flavor is back again, this time for Valentines Day, with new
packaging. It remains in the 9.9 ounce size despite other recent limited
editions being reduced to 8.0 ounces. I found this package at Target at
Coconut Point in Estero, Florida, on January 7, 2016. I hadn't tried Cherry
before, but I really liked the Cherry Cordial flavor from a few years ago.
I found the cherry to be pretty good, but not excellent. It was a little
more tart than Cherry Cordial, which means it was probably a pretty good
representation of a cherry flavor. I prefer dark or white chocolate since
milk chocolate tends to dominate any special flavors, but in this case, the
cherry was just strong enough to hold its own over the milk chocolate.

Strawberry is a new flavor for Valentine's Day 2016. I found this package at
the Walmart Supercenter in Estero, Florida, on December 26, 2015 (yes,
Valentines Day stuff was out on the shelf the day after Christmas). Strawberry
has the potential to be very good, but this version didn't do it for me.
The flavor was very muted and it was quickly overwhelmed by the milk
chocolate. It was also nothing like the Strawberried M&M's shown below,
which were based on peanut butter rather than milk chocolate. The Valentine's
Day version isn't bad, rather, it just isn't as good as the cherry flavors
or the legendary Dark Chocolate Raspberry.

These are the elusive M&M's Semi-Sweet Dark Chocolate Baking Bits. They
are a favorite of people who bake with M&M's, but they were discontinued
a few years ago. They are now back, and oh are they good. I prefer dark
chocolate over milk chocolate, and this less sweet version really tastes good.
People tell me that they are also good as an ice cream topping, but I cannot
vouch for that since my package was gone before I got home from the store.
They come in all of the normal M&M's colors, but each piece is thinner
than a standard M&M, making them more aerodynamic. This lower profile
looks better when making M&M cookies. I purchased this package at the
Walmart Supercenter at Coconut Point in Estero, Florida, on December 11, 2015.

Here we see M&M's Minis Baking Bits. As far as I can tell, these are normal
M&M Minis, but with just red and green colors. It appears to be for the
holiday season, but I have seen them in the stores all summer long. People who
bake with M&M's report that the candy coating color runs and discolors the
bakery around the M&M's, and baking bits reportedly have a slightly
different coating that helps to minimize that issue. I don't bake, so I cannot
say if that is true or not. However, I can say that these are pretty tasty as a
stand-alone candy, just like the mainstream M&M Minis. I purchased this
package at the Walmart Superstore in Savage, Minnesota, on the morning of
December 2, 2015.

Hot Chocolate is a limited edition flavor introduced for the holiday season
in late 2015. It is exclusive to Walmart stores. It is yummy! I really
liked it. It tastes a lot like hot coco, and the flavor doesn't get dull
after you have had a few handfuls. Dark chocolate really works well here.
I found this package at the Walmart Supercenter in Shakopee, MN, on
November 7, 2015.

White Peppermint, formerly known as White Chocolate Peppermint, is an
annual holiday season flavor. The version last year had far too much
peppermint flavor such that it was hard to eat. The flavor in 2015 is
significantly toned down. I personally don't like peppermint, yet I was
able to enjoy the new formula by eating small amounts at a time over
a few days (one of the rare times that M&M's last more than 10
minutes around me). This package was purchased at Target in Burnsville,
MN, on Novermber 4, 2015.

Cafe Mocha is a new limited edition flavor that is available exclusively at
Target stores. I found this package at the Target in Burnsville, MN, on
November 4, 2015. The flavor is excellent. It really tastes like a coffee
drink, yet it has a really smooth texture. This looks like part of a trend
for M&M flavors based on popular drinks. That is an excellent idea,
and they are pulling it off well. The only item to note here is that the
packages are 8 ounces rather than the more traditional 9.9 ounces. It
appears that the other holiday limited edition flavors are also scaled
back to 8 ounces. That means less M&M for the buck.

This is the single serving package of White Candy Corn, a popular flavor
available during Halloween. It has a great candy corn flavor, and the white
chocolate doesn't get in the way of that flavor like milk chocolate would.
I have seen the full sized bags of this before, but this is the first time
I had seen single serving bags. This was purchased at Walgreens in
Janesville, WI, on October 9, 2015.

Pumpkin Spice Latte is a new fall flavor for 2015 that is exclusive to Target.
I found this one at the Target in Burnsville, MN, on September 2, 2015. I
found it to be kind of yummy, in fact, it is now my favorite of all of the
fall flavors. The spice is much more mellow than it was in the Pumpkin Spice
flavor last year, and the latte flavoring makes it very smooth.

Pecan Pie is a new fall flavor introduced in 2015 exclusive to Walmart. I
found it at the Walmart Supercenter in Shakopee, MN, on August 22, 2015. It
sounds like an interesting concept, but it doesn't actually have pecan in it.
Rather, it is an artificial flavor that smells a lot like maple syrup. The
first taste is really nice, but it gets old very quickly. I haven't liked
any of the fall flavors, but I will say that this one is better than the rest.

The 2015 version of Peanut Butter Eggs. These are larger than normal M&M's. They have a
thin chocolate shell with a big peanut butter filling. Even though the packaging does not
say Spectacular (as it did in 2014), they are speckled. I found them on February 18, 2015,
at the Walmart on Six Mile Cypress in Fort Myers, FL. They are absolutely excellent, and
the flavor never seems to get old. They are also lower in calories on a per-serving basis
than most other M&M's.

This is the 2015 version of Coconut Eggs. Like the peanut butter flavor above, they are
speckled despite not having the Spectacular label as did earlier versions. They have a
thin layer of something that includes an artificial coconut flavor that is wrapped around
a big chocolate center. I like the coconut flavor part, but the chocolate is too much and
it eventually overpowers the coconut. They are pretty good and I will buy them again.

Crispy M&M's were reintroduced in January, 2015. This time, they are packaged in a
bright green wrapper that is hard to miss. They have a rice based center that results in
a big calorie reduction compared to regular M&M's. The crispy center is more fun to
eat than solid chocolate M&M's and the flavor never seems to get old given that the
chocolate is not overpowering. It is a good addition to the mainstream mix of M&M
flavors. These were found at a RaceTrac gas station on Colonial Blvd in Fort Myers, FL, on January 17, 2015.

Red Velvet is a Valentines Day flavor that I found at a Walmart in Cape Coral, FL, on
December 29, 2014. Like the name suggests, they have a smooth taste. The flavoring in
the shell mixes with the chocolate to end up with a taste that is almost kind of like
dark chocolate. At the time, I rated them as being yummy, but not quite up to the
level of some of my favorite flavors.

I was checking out Super Target at Coconut Point (near Fort Myers) for any limited edition
M&M flavors, and found Peppermint on December 12, 2014. These are based on white chocolate,
which eliminates the overpowering flavor that milk chocolate has. It allows the flavoring to really
pop. Unfortunately, I personally don't like peppermint, and it is pretty intense in this
limited edition Christmas flavor. I still ate the candy just for the experience. If you
like peppermint, you will love this flavor. Otherwise, you probably don't want to try it.

Candy Apple is a fall flavor. I found it at the Neighborhood Walmart store on College Avenue
in Fort Myers on December 6, 2014. While it is an interesting concept, the taste is awful.
I called it icky, noting that it tasted much like what I would expect from a flavor called cardboard.
I am one and done on this one.

I found Cherry flavor at a Walmart in Sarasota on December 1, 2014. I didn't actually get
to try it -- the group I was with at the time finished them off before I got a chance to
get any. The opinion is that they were pretty good. I loved Cherry Cordial, so I suspect that
this is similar. I expect that this flavor will reappear next year around Christmas time.

Holiday Mint is another Christmas season limited edition. It is the same as the mainstream
flavor Mint M&M's, but with red substituted for the dark green color. I love the regular
mint flavor. As a result, I liked this version, too. The mint has just enough kick to be
enjoyable without getting overpowering. It is much milder than Peppermint flavor M&M's.

A friend and M&M fan (Mark Habas) alerted me to this flavor. In my
research (Google'ed it), I learned that it was only at Target (at least where
I was in the Midwest). I had to check several different Target stores to find
it, finally locating it at Southdale in Edina, MN, on November 1, 2014. I
have not liked the fall flavors, and this one is no different. I thought it
was awful. It tasted to me like burnt cinnamon wrapped around stale
cardboard. Oh well, you cannot please everyone all the time.

White Chocolate Candy Corn is a perennial Halloween flavor. I found this package at a Target
store in Burnsville, MN, on November 1, 2014. I absolutely love this flavor, though I need
to eat it just a little at a time. It has a sweet candy coating that tastes just like the
Candy Corn candy, and the white chocolate center does not get in the way of that candy
flavor. As a result, the flavor is pretty intense. If I eat too much, it does get too sweet,
but a handful or two is a great treat. I will try this one every season when it comes out.

Pretzel M&M's are a mainstream flavor. Introduced in 2010, it was hoped that Pretzel would fill the void
left when Crispy was discontinued a few years earlier. However, they never proved to be
very popular. They are lighter on calories and the slight salty flavor is a nice
compliment to the chocolate. I found this package at Walmart Neighborhood Market on College Avenue in Fort Myers on March 10, 2014, when they were on clearance.

The Spectacular version of M&M's Peanut Butter Eggs was an Easter limited edition that
was available at Target stores early in 2014. I bought this package on March 7, 2014,
at the Target store in Coconut Point (near Fort Myers, FL). I absolutely love the
peanut butter flavor, and the larger size of the eggs is a great format. The spectacular edition
has color speckles on the candy coating.

The Spectacular version of M&M's Coconut Eggs was an Easter limited edition that
was available at Target stores early in 2014. I bought this package on February 23, 2014,
at the Target store in Coconut Point (near Fort Myers, FL). I enjoyed the coconut
flavor, though I would have preferred a coconut filling rather than the big chocolate filling
in the middle. The chocolate eventually overpowered the coconut flavor. The first few tasted
excellent, however. The spectacular edition has color speckles on the candy coating.

White Chocolate Carrot Cake is, without a doubt, my favorite limited edition
M&M flavor. The white chocolate doesn't dominate the flavor, and the
carrot cake flavoring is very smooth. I can, and have, more than once,
eaten an entire 9.9 ounce bag while driving home from the store. This flavor
is not one that I can keep in the cupboard at home because they generally
don't last long enough around me to make it home. If you try only one special
flavor of M&ampM's, try this Easter limited edition. I picked it up at
Walmart in North Fort Myers on February 22, 2014.

This particular package represents a special memory for me. It was eaten in
celebration of the first time that I achieved a Boston Qualifier time running
a full marathon. It just happened to be at the Snickers Marathon in Albany,
GA, on March 1, 2014. There is a large Mars Company factory in Albany, and
Mars is the lead sponsor of this excellent event.

Birthday Cake M&M's were introduced in early 2014. I found this package at the RaceTrac
gas station in Punta Gorda, FL, on February 22, 2014. The candy coating tastes exactly like cake
frosting. They did a remarkable job of replicating the flavor. The first few taste pretty
amazing. But if you have more than about 5 of them, the chocolate taste dominates the
candy flavor and you cannot taste the frosting any longer. As a result, these are best
eaten just a few at a time, something that I am not capable of doing. As a result, I like
them, but I am not really able to use it as a snack because the snack-sized portion loses
its flavor to the chocolate.

Raspberry M&M's were a mainstream flavor for several years until they were discontinued
in the summer of 2014. It was nice to find them on clearance at half-price, but they will
be missed. This was my absolute favorite M&M flavor. The dark chocolate is reportedly
healthier than milk chocolate and it has a less dominate flavor. The raspberry flavor was
pretty good and it was just strong enough to enjoy without being sickly sweet. I hope that
these come back someday as a limited edition.

Cherry Cordial is a Christmas limited edition flavor. I really enjoyed this flavor and I will
buy them again. The cherry flavor tastes just like cherry, and it is strong enough to overcome
the chocolate taste without being too sweet. Everyone's tastes are different, but this one really
works for me. I found them at Walmart in Apple Valley, MN, on December 21, 2013.

I don't remember where I found Gingerbread, but it was somewhere in the Twin Cities (Minneapolis
and Saint Paul, MN) on December 1, 2013. I is a limited edition for Christmas. The flavor did
remind me of gingerbread cookies, but like many of the fall flavors, I quickly got fatigued of
the flavor. It wasn't bad, but I have enjoyed other flavors more.

Cinnamon was a winter flavor that was available in 2011. I purchased it from a vendor on Amazon in
February, 2012. I haven't seen it in stores since I became interested in odd and unusual M&M
flavors. I don't actually remember how it tastes. I like a hint of cinnamon but too much quickly
gets really boring. If it had been offensive, I would have remembered, so it must have been pretty
good.

M&M Premiums were introduced in 2008 in response to the growing popularity of higher end
chocolates appearing in grocery stores. Mars introduced five different flavors, including Mocha,
Chocolate Almond, Raspberry Almond, Mint, and Trio. They must have been long since discontinued
because I have never seen them in stores. I was able to order a package of Trio from a vendor
on Amazon in February, 2012. They were absolutely amazing, the best chocolates I have ever
tasted, and by far, the best M&M's. Trio has dark chocolate on the outside, a thin layer
of white chocolate, then a creamy milk chocolate center. The outside does not have the traditional
hard candy shell. Rather, it is a soft layer of something that is lavender and purple.
Whatever it is, it gives the candy a much more delicate feel and a smoother taste. The other
flavors had similar soft shells but in different colors. Trios are everything that an M&M
could be. I would love to be able to find the other flavors someday (but they are likely to
be long past their use by date).

Strawberried Peanut Butter is what started me on my M&M journey. My
sister-in-law told me about them, but I wasn't able to find them in stores.
They had already been discontinued by January, 2012, so I had to order them
off of Amazon. The original version of Strawberried Peanut Butter was
released as a promotion for the movie ‘Transformers: Revenge Of The
Fallen’ in 2009. There were other flavors in that time frame for
other movies, none of which I have been able to find. This flavor was brought
back as a limited edition in 2011 with the packaging we see here. The
Strawberried Peanut Butter was so-so. I like peanut butter, but the
strawberry flavor was kind of flat. It didn't live up to my expectations,
so it was a bit of a letdown after all of the effort I put into finding them.